The effects of repeated denials and fabrication on memory

In the current experiment, we were interested in the effects of lying (i.e. false denial or fabrication) on memory when deceptive strategies were repeatedly executed. Participants (n = 121) watched a video (i.e., electrician who committed a burglary) and immediately after and during the following ten days, they were instructed to either falsely deny, fabricate, or answer honestly to certain details of the video. Some details were discussed (i.e. denied, fabricated, or honestly answered) either once, or four times. Other details were never discussed. Finally, all participants received a memory test, in which they were asked whether they either previously discussed the details or saw the details during the video. Although, overall, repeated lying did not undermine memory for having discussed certain details, repeated falsely denying led to an impairment of the memory for the event. Findings show that lying can adversely affect memory and that repeated lying can increase this effect.